Off the Square A Review of Hanna's Off the Square 11/25/03 by Russ Stükel

RATINGS (out of 5)

After experiencing scrumptious appetizers and finger foods at a community festival, my wife and I asked, “Who made these flavorful morsels and where can we get more?” That was the moment and time we were introduced to Hanna’s Off the Square. Hanna’s Off the Square…where is that? Having frequented the square many times, we were both dumbfounded to find out there was a new eatery with such savory offerings.

Located on Cedar Street about a block south from the Campus Theater and Denton Square, one can enter Hanna’s through the corner door. Lunch is served Monday – Saturday from 11am-2pm and dinner varies a bit Tuesday – Saturday from 5pm – 10pm. Since it was Russ’ choice for lunch this blustery day in November, I convinced our foursome to experience Hanna’s.

The greeting was warm and refreshingly polite. The foyer décor was inviting and was only out done by the gracious hostess who offered to take and hang our coats. We arrived at approximately 11:30amish, which was a good thing because by 12 noon guests were waiting for tables. Our table was smartly arranged matching the dinning room accoutrements. This cozy dining room allowed us to see out of two of the large windows while simultaneously allowing us to view the extensive wine offerings. Hanna’s has a unique wine station behind the bar, which intrigued us all. None of us had ever seen so many bottles of wine displayed with hoses and taps to dispense the wine. Since we were all returning to work, none of us sampled the grape however we all vowed to return just to sit at the bar and experience the wine dispensing apparatus.

There are several mouth watering atypical items on the menu and the special of the day was enticing enough for me to order it. Henry selected the soup and sandwich (which also came with a salad); Gloria a black bean chili and Kevin had a European soup/stew dish. After having the waitress repeat the extensive dressing offerings twice, Henry was so amazed all he could say was, “the first one you mentioned”.

Gloria immediately dove into her black beans and gave immediate positive “umm” affirmations.

Our plates arrived in a comfortable time frame with each

plate visually impressive. Kevin’s was most extraordinary because the name of the soup was an international word and the fact the broth was a mysterious cream. Gloria immediately dove into her black beans and gave immediate positive “umm” affirmations. She would have appreciated more crackers noting that she is a “crunchy-palette type person”. Henry seemed to be pleased with his salad, tomato basil soup and sandwich and boasted this was a lot of food for the price. Russ had selected the special of the day, chicken pasta and asparagus. Out of all four plates, this special ironically was the only one to fall short. The taste and combination was good however there were only two stems of asparagus and Russ was really hoping for some ASPARAGUS.

As mentioned earlier the dinning room was full by the time we all finished our meals but the restaurant never did feel crowed. The manager, Kristi, made a special stop at our table to deliver a hug and ask how each of our meals turned out. We all pushed away from the table satiated and commented that we will bring our spouses back to experience Hanna’s and the magical wine bar.

Hanna’s Off the Square adds to the charm of the Denton Square area. As you can see Hannah’s rated very well overcoming the asparagus shortage on Russ’ plate. If we all are true to our word we will all be visiting Hanna’s again with our spouses and I would encourage anyone and everyone to experience the cuisine at Hanna’s Off the Square.

Russ Stükel can be e-mailed at stukel@tams.sch.unt.edu.